George Lucas Educational Foundation

American nonprofit publisher

The George Lucas Educational FoundationNamed after| George Lucas

|

Predecessor| The Media Tree
Formation| 1991; 34 years ago (1991)[a]
Founders|

* George Lucas
* Steve Arnold[1]

Founded at| Marin County, California[1]
Type| Nonprofit

Tax ID no.

| EIN 680065687
Headquarters| Skywalker Ranch
San Rafael, California
Coordinates| 38°03′49″N 122°39′09″W﻿ / ﻿38.063534°N 122.652402°W﻿ / 38.063534; -122.652402[2]

Region served

| United States
Products|

* Edutopia.org
* Edutopia magazine

Chairman

| George Lucas

Vice Chairman

| Steve Arnold

Executive Director

| Cindy Johanson
Website| glef.org

1. ^ This date has been widely reported, but is debatable. See § Organizational history for details.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a nonprofit publisher that documents and publicizes exemplary K-12 education practices and programs, especially through video.[3][4][5] It does this primarily through the Edutopia website.

## Organizational history

[edit]

An organization named "The Media Tree" was founded on 4 August 1983 in Mill Valley, California by John Korty and others. It engaged in public relations for media content creators to the public of Marin County.[6] On 4 September 1990, the organization was renamed to "The George Lucas Educational Foundation".[7] The George Lucas Educational Foundation is widely reported to have been founded in 1991[8][9] by George Lucas and Steve Arnold.[1] Lucas originally planned for the foundation to develop technology for schools, but soon determined that schools were not interested or able to use this technology.[3] The foundation was one of the first philanthropies to invest in digital learning technology.[3]

The foundation does not usually provide grants.[citation needed] In 2006, Lucas donated $175 million to his alma mater the University of Southern California through the foundation.[10]

In 2010, the foundation had a $6 million annual budget and eighteen full-time staff.[9] In 2012, the Foundation significantly increased its assets when it received the majority of the proceeds from the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company[3][10]

## Publications

[edit]

### Print publications

[edit]

About 1994, the Foundation began publishing a newsletter entitled Edutopia.[11][1] In September 2004, the foundation launched a free glossy magazine, also titled Edutopia[12][8][1][4] with educators as the target audience.[1][13] From its inception, the print magazine had 85,000 subscribers.[12][13][8] By 2006, it has 100,000 subscribers.[14][15] The print magazine was discontinued in Spring 2010. but the website continued as an online magazine.[1][3]

### Edutopia.org

[edit]

The Edutopia.org website was started in 2002.[16] In 2009, the foundation launched an advertising campaign, leading the website to receive 300,000 readers per month in 2010, a 70% increase from 2009.[9] Robert Pondiscio described Edutopia.org as an inspirational resource for teachers, exuding "unabashed idealism and cheerful optimism".[9] The website features a video series titled "Schools That Work" of in-depth profiles of specific schools.[9] Edutopia.org includes interactive features including comments, blogs, and internet forums.[17]

## Advocacy

[edit]

The Foundation has sometimes included in its mission spreading best practices.[4] However, in practice, Edutopia is a nonprofit media company focused on satisfying and increasing its audience, not an educational reform advocacy organization strategizing to change educational systems.[9][5] The foundation has endorsed as its core principles: "comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project-based learning, social and emotional learning, teacher development, and technology integration".[17][9][18] Robert Pondiscio has been critical of Edutopia's tagline "what works in public education" given the lack of empirical support for these recommendations and uncertainty about how they were developed.[9]

## Research findings

[edit]

Edutopia increases teachers engagement with educational best practices by packaging it in an appealing multisensory video format.[19] Edutopia disseminates scientific/factual knowledge, technical knowledge, and practical wisdom, with a greater emphasis on practical wisdom, which includes judgments, values, and beliefs.[20] Many of the tips and strategies on Edutopia have not been systematically researched.[19]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g Riddell, Roger (May 23, 2019). "Common Cents: George Lucas Foundation details strategy of exploring innovation without being prescriptive". K-12 Dive. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
2. ^ "The George Lucas Educational Foundation". D&B Hoovers. 10 December 2024. p. 1\. ProQuest 1860789698. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
3. ^ a b c d e Ash, Katie (November 13, 2012). "George Lucas' promise to invest in education prompts speculation". Education Week. Vol. 32, no. 12\. p. 10\. ProQuest 1197616487.
4. ^ a b c "Free for the asking". Tech Directions. Vol. 65, no. 7\. February 2006. pp. 30–31\. ProQuest 218558695.
5. ^ a b Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas' 2010 philanthropy pledge". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
6. ^ Dorr, Christopher; Korty, John (4 August 1983). "Articles of incorporation of The Media Tree".
7. ^ Korty, John; Mendelson, Dorothy (4 September 1990). "Certificate of amendment of The Media Tree".
8. ^ a b c Neil, Alissa (September 22, 2004). "George Lucas Educational Foundation launches Edutopia, a new magazine for a new world of learning". PR Newswire (Press release). The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Gale A122354177.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Pondiscio, Robert (2010). "Edutopian vision". Education Next. Vol. 10, no. 3\. ISSN 1539-9664.
10. ^ a b Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas will use Disney $4 billion to fund education". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
11. ^ Edutopia : the newsletter of the George Lucas Educational Foundation (33233451). OCLC 33233451.
12. ^ a b Colford, Paul D. (September 16, 2004). "Lucas rings bell for education mag". New York Daily News. p. 62\. ProQuest 305911061.
13. ^ a b Freedman, Samuel G. (August 31, 2005). "Like Aristotle with a light saber, Lucas urges hands-on learning: Taking a light saber to tired old teaching". The New York Times. Gale A135634517. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
14. ^ Access Intelligence (14 August 2006). "In January, "Edutopia" and Mcgraw-Hill will showcase good-looking schools". Media Industry Newsletter. 59 (31). ISSN 0024-9793. Wikidata Q131936156.
15. ^ "An "endemic" June cover line that almost every 10-year-old will hate". Media Industry Newsletter. 59 (22): 8. 29 May 2006. ISSN 0024-9793. Wikidata Q131936191.
16. ^ "edutopia.org archives". Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
17. ^ a b Michael Bruce Sherry; Robert Tremmel (October 2012). "English education 2.0: An analysis of websites that contain videos of English teaching". English Education. 45 (1): 35–70\. doi:10.58680/EE201221574. ISSN 0007-8204. JSTOR 23365000. Wikidata Q131935163.
18. ^ "edutopia.org home page". Retrieved May 30, 2015.
19. ^ a b Malin, Joel R. (June 1, 2020). "Mediated, Evidence-Informed Practice as Impact". International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership. 16 (8): 3-4. doi:10.22230/ijepl.2020v16n8a955. ISSN 1555-5062.
20. ^ Malin, Joel R.; Brown, Chris; Trubceac, Angela St (2018). "Going for Broke: A Multiple-Case Study of Brokerage in Education". AERA Open. 4 (2). doi:10.1177/2332858418769297. ISSN 2332-8584.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Perry, Steve (May 14, 2011). George Lucas: Improving education. Perry's Principles. CNN. Transcript.
* "George Lucas Takes on Education" CNN, May 13, 2011
* "George Lucas On The Best Fix For K-12 Education" Forbes September 21, 2011
* "How George Lucas is a Teacher" Oprah's Next Chapter January 22, 2012
* Chen, Milton; Armstrong, Sara, eds. (March 20, 2002). Edutopia: Success stories for learning in the digital age. Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0-7879-6082-7.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

George Lucas

* Filmography
* Bibliography
* Awards and nominations

Films directed|

| Feature|

* THX 1138 (1971)
* American Graffiti (1973)
* Star Wars (1977)
* Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
* Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
* Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)

|

Short|

* Look at Life (1965)
* Herbie (1966)
* Freiheit (1966)
* 1:42.08 (1966, documentary)
* Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town (1967)
* The Emperor (1967, documentary)
* Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967)
* 6-18-67 (1967, documentary)
* Filmmaker (1968, documentary)

Films written|

* The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
* Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
* Return of the Jedi (1983)
* Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
* The Ewok Adventure (1984, TV film)
* Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985, TV film)
* Captain EO (1986, short attraction)
* Willow (1988)
* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
* Radioland Murders (1994)
* Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
* Strange Magic (2015)

TV series created|

* The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–96 / 1999–2001)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–14; 2020)
* Star Wars Detours (unaired)

Books written|

* Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976, credit only)
* Shadow Moon (1995)
* Shadow Dawn (1996)
* Shadow Star (2000)

Franchises created|

* Star Wars
* Indiana Jones

Related|

* Bald: The Making of THX 1138
* The George Lucas Talk Show
* Light & Magic
* American Zoetrope
* Lucasfilm
* ILM
* LucasArts
* Lucasfilm Animation
* Skywalker Sound
* Pixar
* The Star Wars Corporation
* Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
* Skywalker Ranch
* THX
* George Lucas Educational Foundation

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